Austin, Texas – The
Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) is pleased to announce new pension
images available at our hosting partner, Fold3. As we detailed in August of
this year, conservation had resumed and digitization would shortly follow on
War of 1812 Pension files covering surnames M(Moore)-Q. This new release of
images is the first installment on the promise made by FGS, National Archives
and Records Administration (NARA) and Ancestry to complete the project we
started and to which you all have so generously contributed. Additional images
will follow as the Ancestry digitization team continues to refine their process
and achieve full capacity in accord with NARA protocols.
The War of 1812 pensions are among the most frequently requested
set of materials within NARA’s holdings, yet had never been microfilmed or
digitized. Through a fundraising effort unprecedented in the genealogical
community, more than 4,000 individuals, 115 genealogical and lineage societies,
and industry leaders such as FamilySearch helped FGS secure the funds, matched
by Ancestry, to preserve and share this invaluable genealogical resource. The
images already captured, as well as those soon to be, are hosted at Fold3 and
available for free at https://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/
“The Federation remains grateful to our partners and our supporters for
their commitment to this important project. We are as excited as our community to
reach this milestone.” – Rorey Cathcart, FGS President
"Accelerating
public access to our holdings is key to successfully meeting NARA's mission and
we are extremely pleased to see this project contribute to that overarching
goal." Pamela Wright, Chief Innovation Officer, NARA
“We are
excited to have images flowing to the Fold3 site again and look forward to
completing the collection as quickly as NARA’s process will allow.” Brian
Hansen, GM Fold3
The Federation is committed to seeing
the entire collection conserved, digitized and freely online at the earliest
possible date. We will continue work with our partners to complete the current
project plan in a timely manner and to secure a project plan for the remaining portion
of the War of 1812 Pension files.
